One of the many things I learned from graduate school was the importance of having a theoretical framework within which to situate a perceived problem you seek to address. Not every problem is amenable to such conceptual grounding so it is worth articulating one for yourself so that you don't get led astray in your pursuit of feasible policies. Many of the issues I discuss in my blog can be viewed from policy frameworks used in public policy schools. Other frameworks I have had to acquire from personal research. To that end, one book that I think will stand the test of time is Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson (2012). The key message in this tome (it is 546 pages long) is that n ations fail because their extractive economic institutions do not create the incentives needed for people to save, invest, and innovate. Extractive political institutions support these economic institutions by cementing the power of those who benefit fr...
Economics, Data Science, Consulting